In Real Life
Page Overview This page is only to provide real-life facts about the dinosaurs you play as in game. |-|Starter Dinosaurs= Tyrannosaurus Tyrannosaurus rex lived during the Late Cretaceous period(specifically 68-66 million years ago) in North America and its scientific name means the Tyrant lizard king. Due to the fact Tyrannosaurus was kind of mediocre in speed( at 22 miles an hour at maximum), paleontologists thought that this predator was an opportunist, hunting prey if it must but also not above scavenging. Tyrannosaurus was one of the largest land carnivores of all time, rivaled only by Spinosaurus and two members of the Giganotosaurini. Recent studies show that the estimated weight of the T.rex was between 8.4-14 metric tonnes! Tyrannosaurus was also found to have extremly good eyesight(able to see something over 17 football fields away) and one of the most powerful bites of any animal(estimated to be between 4500 and 12,800 pounds). Some scientists speculate that the T.rex had feathers, using T.rex's relatives such as Yutyrannus as evidence. There is ,however, not enough evidence to tell at the moment as T.rex has not many traces of it's fossilized skin and what little is known are tiny bits and pieces; overall the debate is still rageing on about if the "King of Dinosaurs" has feathers or not. Triceratops Triceratops horridus (aka the Trike) was a Ceratopsian that lived in the same time and place as Tyrannosaurus. The Trike sported a large solid frill around its head as well as two large brow horns and one small nose horn. It looked similar to the current day Rhinoceros and perhaps behaved in a vaugly similar fashion. The Function of the frill and horns is unknown but scientists speculate it was could have been used as self defense from predators such as T.rex, for courtship, identifying their own kind, or for fighting other trikes over mates like how deer use their antlers. The Trike moved on 4 legs with hoof-like feet like most other herbivores in the Late Cretaceous. Triceratops, unlike most herbivores of it's time, were not that social; they often only lived in small groups or alone. It's not known why but it's most likely because the environment they lived in did not allow them to travel in herds of hundreds like the Centrosaurinae. Like the Black Rhinoceros, the Trike most likely ate bushes and low-hanging branches. There is potential evidence that Triceratops had feathers in the form of nipple-like spines on the back of a specimen; the specimen is ,however, not officially described so it is not entirely certain. Ornithomimus Ornithomimus velox is a type of Ornithomimid that lived in the Late Cretaceous(specifically 76-66 million years ago) in North America. Ornithomimids were swift, bipedal theropods with small toothless beaks that indicate a omnivorous diet. A fossil was discovered in 2016 that revealed that Ornithomimus(and probably Ornithomimids in general) had feathers; the specimen had a coat of fuzz over most of it's body and wing covering it's arms. An interesting feature of Ornithomimus is that it had scaleless skin covering the leg from the knee down that resembled an ostrich, indicating they had a similar lifestyle. |-|Badge Unlockables= Styracosaurus Styracosaurus albertensis was a Ceratopsian that lived in North America about 75 million years ago. It had four to six long horns extending from its neck frill, a smaller horn on each of its cheeks, and a single horn protruding from its nose, which may have been up to 60 centimeters (2.0 feet) long and 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) wide. The function or functions of the horns and frills have been debated for many years. Styracosaurus was a relatively large dinosaur, reaching lengths of 5.5 meters (18 feet) and weighing nearly 3 tonnes. It stood about 1.8 meters (5.9 feet) tall. Styracosaurus possessed four short legs and a bulky body. Its tail was rather short. The skull had a beak and shearing cheek teeth arranged in continuous dental batteries, suggesting that the animal sliced up plants. Like other centrosaurines, this dinosaur may have been a herd animal, traveling in large groups, as suggested by bonebeds. Euoplocephalus Euoplocephalus tutus is one of the largest of all the Ankylosaurs, living in North America from 76 to 75 million years ago. The first fossil of Euoplocephalus was found in 1897 in Alberta. In 1902, it was named Stereocephalus, but that name had already been given to an insect, so it was changed in 1910. Later, many more ankylosaurid remains were found from the Campanian of North America and often made separate genera. In 1971, Walter Coombs concluded that they all belonged to Euoplocephalus which then would be one of the best-known dinosaurs. Recently however, experts have come to the opposite conclusion, limiting the authentic finds of Euoplocephalus to about a dozen specimens. These include a number of almost complete skeletons, so much is nevertheless known about the build of the animal. Euoplocephalus was about five to six meters long and weighed over two tons. Its body was low-slung and very flat and wide, standing on four sturdy legs. Its head had a short drooping snout with a horny beak to bite off plants that were digested in the large gut. Like other ankylosaurids, Euoplocephalus was largely covered by bony armor plates, among them rows of large high-ridged oval scutes. The neck was protected by two bone rings. It could also actively defend itself against predators like Gorgosaurus using a heavy club-like tail end. Brachiosaurus Brachiosaurus altithorax ''was a '''Brachiosaurid' Sauropod that lived in North America during the Late Jurassic(specifically from 154 to 153 million years ago).It was first described by Elmer S. Riggs in 1903 from fossils found in the Grand River Canyon (now Colorado River) of western Colorado, in the United States. Riggs named the dinosaur Brachiosaurus altithorax, declaring it "the largest known dinosaur". Brachiosaurus had a disproportionately long neck, small skull, and large overall size, all of which are typical for sauropods. However, the proportions of Brachiosaurus are unlike most sauropods: the forelimbs were longer than the hindlimbs, which resulted in a steeply inclined trunk, and its tail was shorter in proportion to its neck than other sauropods of the Jurassic. Brachiosaurus is the namesake genus of the family Brachiosauridae, which includes a handful of other similar sauropods. Much of what is known by laypeople about Brachiosaurus is in fact based on Giraffatitan brancai, a species of brachiosaurid from the Tendaguru Formation of Tanzania that was originally described by German paleontologist Werner Janensch as a species of Brachiosaurus. Allosaurus Allosaurus fragilis is a Carnosaur that lived in North America from 155 to 150 million years ago. Despite being often called "The lion of the Jurassic", Allosaurus actually had a weak bite force, it being weaker than the bite force of a lion. The main hunting strategy of Allosaurus is to 'hug' big game like sauropods, grappling them with it's arm while slashing their flanks with their serrated teeth which cause severe blood loss. Baryonyx Baryonyx walkeri is a Spinosaurid that lived in Europe from 130 to 125 million years ago.The holotype specimen was discovered in 1983 in Surrey, England, and the animal was named B. walkeri in 1986. The genus name, Baryonyx, means "heavy claw" and alludes to the animal's very large claw on the first finger; the specific name (walkeri) refers to its discoverer, amateur fossil hunter William J. Walker. Fragmentary specimens were later discovered in other parts of the United Kingdom and Iberia. The holotype specimen is one of the most complete theropod skeletons from the UK, and its discovery attracted media attention. Baryonyx was between 7.5 and 10 m (25 and 33 ft) long and weighed between 1.2 and 1.7 t (1.3 and 1.9 short tons), but the holotype specimen may not have been fully grown. Spinosaurus Spinosaurus aegyptiacus(meaning "spine lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa, during the upper Albian to upper Turonian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 93.5 million years ago. This genus was known first from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915. The original remains were destroyed in World War II, but additional material has come to light in recent years. It is unclear whether one or two species are represented in the fossils reported in the scientific literature. Spinosaurus was among the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs, nearly as large as or even larger than Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus. Avimimus Avimimus portentosus is a small basal Caenagnathid(a kind of Oviraptorosaur) that lived in Asia 70 million years ago.Meaning "bird mimic" (Latin avis = bird + mimus = mimic),named for its bird-like characteristics.The skull was small compared to the body, though the brain1 and eyes were large. The size of the bones which surrounded the brain and were dedicated to protecting it are large. This is also consistent with the hypothesis that Avimimus had a proportionally large brain. The jaws of Avimimus were thought to form a parrot-like beak lacking teeth, and a thorough review of the holotype specimen's anatomy confirmed that no teeth were preserved, although a series of tooth-like projections along the tip of the premaxilla were present. However, subsequently discovered specimens have been reported to preserve small premaxillary teeth.3 The small teeth or possible lack thereof in Avimimus suggests that it may have been an herbivore or omnivore. Kurzanov himself, however, believed that Avimimus was an insectivore. Troodon Troodon formosus is a Troodontid that lived in North America from 77 to 76 million years ago. Troodon has been thought of to have night vision do to it's enormous eyes. Discovered in October 1855, T. formosus was among the first dinosaurs found in North America, although it was thought to be a lizard until 1877. Several well-known troodontid specimens from the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta were once believed to be members of this genus. However, recent analyses in 2017 have found the genus to be undiagnostic and referred some of these specimens to the genus Stenonychosaurus (long believed to be synonymous with Troodon) and others to the newly created genus Latenivenatrix. Gigantoraptor Gigantoraptor erlianensis is the one of the largest Caenagnathids to ever live; it lived 85 million years ago in Asia. When it was described, it was clear that Gigantoraptor belonged to the Oviraptorosauria, a group named after Oviraptor; Gigantoraptor, however, was a giant compared to it's relatives. It was approximately three times as long and 35 times more massive than the heaviest earlier discovered oviraptorosaurid Citipati. Xu et al. estimated the length at 8 meters (26 ft) and the weight at 1400 kilograms. In 2010, Gregory S. Paul even gave an estimate of two tonnes (2.2 tons). The toothless lower jaws of Gigantoraptor are fused into a broad shovel-like mandible. They indicate that the unknown skull was over half a meter long and toothless also, probably equipped with a horny beak. The front tail vertebrae have very long neural spines and are heavily pneumatized with deep pleurocoels. The middle section of the relatively short tail is somewhat stiffened by long prezygapophyses. |-|Aquatics= Pliosaurus Pliosaurus funkei (meaning "more lizard") is an thalassophonean pliosaurid known from the Late Jurassic(specifically 155 to 147 million years ago) in Europe and South America. Their diet would have included fish, cephalopods, and other marine reptiles. Pliosaurus funkei is the largest species in it's genus, a genus that contains at least nine other species. Pliosaurus funkei is often refereed to as "Predator X", which it was called before it was officially described. Mosasaurus Mosasaurus hoffmannii(meaning "lizard of the muse rive") is a mosasaur 'that lived in Europe and North America during the Late Cretaceous(specifically 70 to 66 million years ago). The ''Mosasarus was one of the last and largest '''mosasaurs. The largest Mosasarus fossils found was nearly 17 meters in length! Thats a little over half the size of a blue whale! The Mosasarus had long barrel shaped bodies with 4 flippers (2 large on the front and 2 smaller on the back.), a tail with a fluke like that of modern day sharks, and a robust skull with the lower jaw being attached tightly to the skull. Scientists predict that the Mosasarus lived near the ocean surface and its diet might've consisted of fish, turtles, smaller mosasaurs, pterosaurs, and plesiosaurs. Elasmosaurus Elasmosaurus platyurusis is a Elasmosaurid plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous(specifically 80 million years ago). Elasmosaurus was 10.3 metres (34 ft) long, and would have had a streamlined body with paddle-like limbs, a short tail, a small head, and an extremely long neck. Coelacanth The West Indian Ocean coelacanth(Latimeria chalumnae) is only of two species in the genus Latimeria, which is the last genus in a very ancient family. The West Indian Ocean coelacanth is found primarily near the Comoro Islands off the east coast of Africa. They follow the oldest known living lineage of Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish and tetrapods), which means they are more closely related to lungfish, reptiles, birds and mammals than to the common ray-finned fishes. Thanks to over fishing and their slow growth rate, the West Indian Ocean coelacanth is a critically endangered species. Coelacanths belong to the subclass Actinistia, a group of lobed-finned fish related to lungfish and certain extinct Devonian fish such as osteolepiforms, porolepiforms, rhizodonts, and Panderichthys. Coelacanths were thought to have become extinct in the Late Cretaceous, around 66 million years ago, but were rediscovered in 1938 off the coast of South Africa. The coelacanth was long considered a "living fossil" because it was believed to be the sole remaining member of a taxon otherwise known only from fossils, with no close relations alive, and to have evolved into roughly its current form approximately 400 million years ago. However, several recent studies have shown that coelacanth body shapes are much more diverse than previously thought. The term "stabilomorph" has began to replaced the term "living fossil" to describe these animals. Leedsichthys Leedsichthys problematicus is a giant member of the Pachycormidae, an extinct group of Mesozoic ray-finned fishes that lived in Europe and South America during the Middle Jurassic period. The first remains of Leedsichthys were identified in the nineteenth century. Especially important were the finds by the British collector Alfred Nicholson Leeds, after whom the genus was named "Leeds' fish" in 1889. As the vertebrae are among the parts that have not been preserved, it is hard to determine the total body length. Estimates have varied wildly. At the beginning of the twentieth century a length of nine meters (thirty feet) was seen as plausible, but by its end Leedsichthys was sometimes claimed to have been over thirty meters (hundred feet) long. Recent research has lowered this to about sixteen meters (fifty feet) for the largest individuals. Tusoteuthis Tusoteuthis longa was a large squid native to North America during the Campanian stage of the Cretaceous. Tusoteuthis hunted large fish and the occasional small marine reptile while being preyed on by large marine reptiles like Tylosaurus proriger. The Tusoteuthis was an unusually large Cephalopod, being an alike size to the Architeuthis(Giant Squid) in the modern world. Recent studies, however, suggest that it was much more closely related to Vampire Squids (Vampyroteuthis infernalis). Ichthyosaurus Ichthyosaurus communis is a Ichthyosaur that lived in Europe for the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic. Ichthyosaurus is among the best known ichthyosaur genera, with the order Ichthyosauria being named after it. As an ocean going hunter,‭ ‬the main diet of Ichthyosaurus would have been primarily if not exclusively piscivorous.‭ ‬Study of coprolites has confirmed the presence of both fish and squid in its feeding habits.‭ ‬Although Ichthyosaurus appears to have relied upon its sight for feeding,‭ ‬the solid bone structure of the ear drums suggests that they could have‭ '‬heard‭' ‬their prey from a distance by their vibrations in the water. Some specimens have shown smaller Ichthyosaurus remains inside larger ones in positions that appear to be within a uterus of a parent animal and‭ ‬some even appear to have been in the process of being born.‭ ‬This means that Ichthyosaurus almost certainly did not lay eggs,‭ ‬but was instead viviparous,‭ ‬giving birth to live young.‭ ‬As with other viviparous air breathing marine organisms,‭ ‬the young emerged from the mother tail first so that they did not drown while being born. Megalodon Megalodon is an extinct genus of bivalve Molluscs that reportedly lived from the Devonian to the Jurassic Period. It is not clear, however, that all the fossils assigned to Megalodon from that span of time really belong in the same genus. Jurassic relatives of Megalodon such as Pachyrisma grande were closely related to the rudists. |-|Small to mid sized theropods= Theropods are often dinosaurs with hallow bones and 3 tipped toes. They usually resemble modern day birds. Balaur Balaur bondoc ''is a small '''maniraptoran' that lived during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now Romania. The name of this small animal means "Stocky dragon" and it was named after a dragon of Romanian folklore, the Balaur. The current placement of this animal on the evolutionary line of dinosaurs is unknown, some people think it was an herbivorous bird, others think that it might have been a Dromeosaurid of some kind. This animal was subjected to a phenomena that is known as insular gigantism, due to the lack of some predators and plenty of food after milions of years of evolution it mostly gave up the abillity to fly, only being able to glide. Many other animals on it's island also became either large or small, things like Magyarasaurus(a Titanosaur) and Zalmoxes(an Iguanodontid) became smaller though titans like Hatzegopteryx, a gigantic Azhdarchid pterosaur still preyed on these dwarfs. This animal might have been a small herbivore searching for seeds in the bushes and swamps that it inhabited. The animal is only known from one specimen which is called EME.VP 313. The fossil has a hand, a couple of vertebrae and ribs, a pelvic bone and two legs and feet that, surprisingly , possess two "killing claws" or talons. Gallimimus Gallimimus bullatus (aka the Galli) was a Ornithomimid that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period(specifically 70 million years ago). Its name means Chicken mimic, although it being much larger than a chicken and was rather ostrich like. The Gallimimus had a small head, toothless beak, a long neck, 2 short arms, 2 long legs, a long tail, and hollow bones. The tail was likely used for balance as based on the size of its legs it most likely ran at high speeds. The Galli had its eyes on the side of its head, so it didn't posses binocular vision. It's unknown what the Galli ate. Scientists have debated that it may have eaten small animals, but due to its rake like arms it could've eaten roots in the soil. It could've possible been an omnivore. Another topic of debate was if the Galli had feathers. Some recent fossils have found that it may have had feathers along its neck and back down through its tail and arms. Achillobator Achillobator giganticus was a large dromaeosaur '''reaching a length of 20 feet. ''Achillobator lived during the Late Cretaceous(specficially 98-83 million years ago) in Asia. It had a name derived from the name of the Greek hero Achilles and the Mongolian word for hero. Achillobator could of preyed on a number of species including: Garudimimus, Avimimus,'' Enigmosaurus'','' Gilmoreosaurus'','' Heishansaurus'','' Bactrosaurus'', and Graciliceratops'' which lived in the same time and place as Achillobator''.'' The'' Achillobator ''was discovered in 1989, but was not formally named and described until 1999.'' Achillobator'''s hip was pointing in the opposite direction of other '''dromaeosaurs, along with this, the skull of Achillobator was similar in proportions to a carnosaur skull when compared to the body, its neck was short and robust, and legs proportionally weird legs for a dromaeosaur, these features are some of the features that make Achillobator a distinct genus. Ceratosaurus Ceratosaurus was a medium sized theropod in the the late Jurassic from 156 to 145 million years ago. What makes the Ceratosaurus unique among its similar sized brethren is the horn on its nose, being the only theropod to have this trait. The Ceratosaurus lived in both America and Africa, and a possible Ceratosaurus fossil has been found in Portugal. Ceratosaurus prey ranged from small stegosauridae like Kentrosaurus and young stegosaurus, to early Iguanodons like Camptosaurus, and hypsilophodontids like Dryosaurus. Ceratosaurus teeth were thin an blade-like, designed to slice through flesh, while its head was a viable weapon, its arms were not. The arms of Ceratosaurus were more comparable to a Tyranosaurs in size compared to the body, with four short, stubby fingers. Ceratosaurus was also adept at living near aquatic environments, hunting aquatic prey like crocs and fish. This trait probably evolved to stop it from competing with larger carnivores like both Allosaurus and Torvosaurus. Ceratosaurus did not become extinct till the end of the Jurassic, along with many of the top predators, including Allosaurus and Torvosaurus.Category:Miscellaneous